GLEN ROSE- The Glen Rose Beavers handed Paris a 54-7 loss last season at Eagles Stadium in route to an undefeated conference season in conference 3A-4. In fact, the Beavers did not have a close conference game all season in 2022. This year, the Eagles make the return trip to Malvern to play Glen Rose on Friday, September 22. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Crossett defeated Glen Rose on August 25 by the score of 39-38, and Malvern, who many have ranked number one in the state in Class 4A, defeated the Beavers 44-13 on September 1. At press time for this story, Glen Rose was preparing for a game at Fordyce on September 15.
Ironically, the Beavers are comprised of a deep class of returning seniors on their roster, but, according to Hooten’s Arkansas Football publication, Glen Rose lacks overall team speed.
Steven Kehner, son of former coach Mark Kehner, is now coaching the Beavers. Glen Rose is focused on repeating as conference champions this year, but they may not be quite as strong from top to bottom of their roster as they were a year ago. Nevertheless, Glen Rose has been the media favorite to repeat as 3A-4 conference champions in 2023.
Returning three-year senior starter at quarterback, Rein Bland, is very good at finding open receivers and putting the ball in the hands of their playmakers in open space. Bland led the conference a year ago with 136 pass completions on 207 attempts. He threw for 2,154 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2022.
Senior running back Heath Ballance led the conference in rushing in 2022, rushing for 1,428 yards on 195 carries. He also ran for 18 touchdowns.
Defensively, senior linebacker Harrison Roach was among the conference’s leading tacklers, being credited with 47 tackles a year ago. Offensive receiver Tyler Kratz also plays defensive end and brings good speed off the edge rushing opposing quarterbacks.
Prior to this season, Glen Rose was only thought to be potentially challenged by both Bismark and Centerpoint. But the surprise of the season so far has been the lack of success of Centerpoint. The Knights, picked by many to finish third in the conference to Glen Rose and Bismark respectively, are yet to win a game in 2023. The Knights lost big to Hackett by the score of 53-6, and narrowly to Mena by the score of 17-16. A press time, Centerpoint was preparing to take the field at Bigelow for their final non-conference game.
From the Eagles’ point of view, they want to win every time they play. If that is not the case on Friday, Paris needs to come out of the game free from injury and refocused on competitive games coming up with Jessieville, Two Rivers, and now Centerpoint in October. Two wins out of those three, combined with a possible win over Danville in Week Ten would propel Paris back to the state playoffs.
On an additional note for our Paris readers, the Eagles will celebrate football Homecoming next week, September 25-29. The Eagles will host the Bismark Lions for the homecoming football game on Friday, September 29. Watch for more homecoming information on our website next week.
RNN Sports will be in Malvern to bring you action photos from the game. Watch for our post-game story on Saturday on our website at residentnewsnetwork.com.
Travel safely, and we’ll see you at the stadium!
